Getting After My Goals in August

Days after my birthday this July I set 27 goals for myself for this- my 27th trip around the sun. (You can read about 'em here.)  

Time has flown by in the past month but I managed to complete one of my goals and make progress on four others.  Here are the details:

#7 Take a woodworking class.
I registered for Introduction to Woodworking and Cabinetmaking - a 12 week night class offered by Arlington Public Schools that promises to teach me about "wood types and uses, wood joinery and cabinetry design."  It begins next Tuesday- I'm pretty excited!

#9 Grow my blog to 27 times its current size, 26 Followers x 27 = 702 Followers.
I reeled in nine new Followers, so I'm up to 35!  I only updated my blog once in August, and since I need to charm 59 people into becoming Followers each month to reach my lofty goal of 702 Followers by July 2012, I plan to really pick up the posting pace here in September.  (To my nine newest Followers, you rock, THANK YOU!)

#19 Become a Weight Watchers Life Member.
I joined Weight Watchers last week.  Right now I have a couple of pounds I want to lose before I'm at my Goal Weight.  Once I'm there, I'll begin six weeks of Maintenance, after which time I'll become a Life Member.  It sounds easier than it's going to be, I suspect.


#20 Significantly pare down my things in storage.  COMPLETE!
Before, I had been storing quite a few in my parent's basement:

I'll never be one of those people who can pack their life into a backpack, but this felt like too much baggage.  So, I went through everything, set aside the things I couldn't live without, and then proceeded to get rid of the rest by selling it in a family estate sale, listing it on Craigslist and donating it to charity.  

(Side note - during this process I discovered the free iPhone app CraigsPro - it made it quite easy to list things on Craigslist from my phone - I highly recommend it, especially if you're in the process of purging stuff, like I was.) 

And now, here's my significantly pared down pile of things in storage:

It's five bins, two art portfolios, a sofa slipcover, christmas tree stand and mini grill. 

To help make my new storage pile look extra-organized (and to help keep my stuff from becoming mixed up among the other things my parents are storing in their basement) I whipped up some labels in Word.

I printed the labels on regular printer paper and then laminated them with clear packing tape for durability.

I attached the labels with permanent double-sided tape, except to the sofa slipcover- that label got pinned.

All in all, it took me about a week down to pare down my storage pile.  It was a fairly tedious and tiring ordeal but it's left me feeling quite light and free.   

#27 Review these goals once a month.
Taa daa, this is me reviewing my August progress. And, to help keep myself on track, I put a copy of my 27 goals in a frame on my night stand.  

Isn't this frame so modern and cute? It was just 99 cents at Ikea and I think it would also be great on a desk.  And, if you didn't want to frame goals, why not frame a favorite quote, or an important reference- like whatever that post-it says that you've had taped to the side of your computer monitor forever?

Thanks for bearing with me as I blathered about myself today - I'll be back later this week with my regular design inspiration and details about how I upgraded a blah ceiling fan.